Tag Archives: flute

Cesar PeredoPeruvian flutist and composer Cesar Peredo studied flute at the National Conservatory of Lima. Peredo continued his studies at the Hochschule fur Musik in Detmold, Germany, under the tutelage of Michael Achilles, who was a student of Hans Peter Schmitz (principal soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra). He later studied privately in Los Angeles, California, with Arthur Hobermann, one of the most popular flutists in the Hollywood area.

At the same time he was studying in Europe, he attended master classes and courses with renowned soloists such as Paul Meisen, Hans Peter Schmitz, Maxence Larrieu, Andreas Blau, William Bennett,and others.

After returning to Peru, he studied composition with Celso Garrido Lecca and Enrique Iturriaga. In 2001, he won an honorable mention in a composition contest organized by the American Flute Association.

Flute player Matt Molloy joined The Chieftains in 1979 as the replacement for Michael Tubridy. His first appearance with the band took place at the Edinburgh Festival as the opening act for Van Morrison. His first recording with the band was The Chieftains 9: Boil the Breakfast Early.

Born in 1947, Molloy is a native of county Roscommon, in the western area of Ireland. Molloy is widely recognized as the best flute player in Irish traditional music and was formerly in The Bothy Band and Planxty.

He started playing at the age of 12, and participated in traditional music festivals (called fleadhanna cheoil) where he won numerous competitions. In 1964, he moved to Dublin where he not only performed in clubs but also studied aeronautical engineering. He met Paddy Moloney at the Old Sheiling and soon the two were playing duets around town.

By the 1970s, Molloy was working as an airline mechanic and playing music on the side. When the traditional music scene boomed, he tried his hand at being a professional musician after securing a six-month leave of absence from his company. He never returned. He was a founding member of The Bothy Band, through which he became known as Irish music’s premier flute player. Shortly after the group disbanded in 1979, Molloy joined Planxty, before becoming one of The Chieftains.

Resilience is a beautiful album by United States-based Ugandan musician and former refugee Samite. His main instrument is the flute and he delivers a set of engaging musical pieces that incorporate Ugandan roots music and jazz.

Samite’s music is played at concert venues and also for elders at institutions for seniors. Resilience is inspired by Samite’s own experiences of musical healing to search out comfort and relief. His mission is to transmit this comfort to other individuals.

Samite participated in Dr. Bill Thomas’ Disrupt Dementia, a national tour that stopped at hundreds of facilities and played music for residents. These endeavors are chronicled in the Sundance award-winning documentary Alive Inside.

On Resilience you’ll find tranquil, yet inspiring and mesmerizing music performed on flute, soft vocals, guitars, bass, percussion and keyboards.

Kevin Crawford is one of the exceptional flute players in Irish traditional music. Born in Birmingham, England and now living in his parent’s native County Clare, Kevin is known as the virtuosic flutist and frontman for the dynamic young Irish band Lunasa. His exhilarating playing was also key to the classic instrumental group Moving Cloud.

Following his acclaimed solo debut ‘D’Flute Album, Kevin wanted to make an album featuring fiddle-and-flute duets with some of his heroes, eight of Ireland’s legendary fiddlers. 7/7 Good Company features the cream of traditional fiddling: Tommy Peoples, Martin Hayes, Frankie Gavin, Tony Linnane, Conor Tully, James Cullinan, Manus McGuire of Moving Cloud and Scan Smyth of Lunasa.

“I wanted to reintroduce myself to the musicians I played with when I first came over to Clare and to the tunes we used to play,” said Crawford. “When I’m away on the tour bus or the plane, these are the musicians I miss the most, wishing I was back in Clare playing tunes.”

Backed by guitarist Arty McGlynn, bodhran player Jim Higgins, and Moving Cloud keyboardist Carl Hession, Crawford showcases the vitality and virtuosity of these fiddlers. He strips back the layers of today’s musical technology to reach a core sound, the “pure drop” of fiddle and flute embraced in the unalloyed joy of playing.

All the way from Moy in Co. Armagh, Fintan is a flute player, uilleann piper and writer of satirical songs. Currently lecturer on Traditional Music at the Dundalk Institute of Technology, Co. Louth, Fintan’s scholarly work, such as his weekly column in The Sunday Tribune, stimulated the dialogue surrounding Irish music and the tradition.

Emer Mayock grew up in County Mayo and began to play traditional music at an early age. She was influenced greatly by her brothers and sisters who played a range of instruments and by local musicians. She spent the Summer months travelling to various music festivals around Ireland where she was tutored by some of the country’s best musicians. Emer moved to Dublin in 1991 and began playing sessions and concerts in the city where she met a range of musicians many of whom she has recorded with and still performs with regularly.

Emer released her highly acclaimed debut album “Merry Bits of Timber” in 1996. Since then she has toured worldwide with her band and as a solo artist, worked with Paddy Glackin, Donal Lunny, Michael O’ Domhnaill, Jean-Michel Veillon and toured as uilleann piper/flutist with Afro Celt Sound System and was featured on their album “Further In Time”.

“Playground”, Emer’s second album was released in 2001 on her own record label Is Mise. Recorded in Autumn 2000 in the village of Ross West, County Mayo (Emer’s birthplace), Dublin and New York, it features twelve pieces of music written by Emer as well as traditional tunes and music recently written by musicians from Ireland, Brittany and the United States. On this album Emer plays flutes, whistles, uilleann pipes, violin and cello and is joined by various other musicians playing percussion, guitars, bouzouki, mandocello, harmonica and harmonium.

Ronu Majumdar grew up in Varanasi where he was originally taught flute by his father Dr Bhanu Majumdar and then by Pandit Vijay Raghavrao. Ronu’s father was a close disciple of Pt. Pannalal Ghosh, the first Indian flute player to take the flute to concert level and the musician responsible for bringing this folk instrument into the classical era.

Ronu Majumdar’s principal teacher (guru) was the legendary Pandit Ravi Shankar. Ronu has recorded on the groundbreaking Private Music (BMG) album entitled Passages with Pt. Ravi Shankar and Philip Glass. He also performed on Pt. Ravi Shankar’s 1997 release Chants Of India on Angel (EMI) and toured with him in 1988. He has recorded with other legends such as Beatle George Harrison who championed Indian music to young people in the West, Ry Cooder and Zakir Hussain.

He enjoyed a close 10-year association with RD Burman the illustrious film maker, performing on the Bollywood film score Love Story-1942; he also recorded with Zakir Hussain and Ustad Sultan Khan on the 1994 Merchant Ivory film In Custody which won the President of India Gold Medal for Best Picture.

Master Shashank is phenomenal musical prodigy. Since his debut performance in Australia in 1990 (aged eleven), Shashank has soared to the upper ranks of the Carnatic music world. At age 12, he was given the opportunity to perform the prestigious ‘Sadas’ concert of the Chennai Music Academy on January 1, 1991. The Indian Express described this young boy as “Man of the Season” among the hundreds who performed for the music season of 1990-91.

With his immense musical talents, Shashank has enthralled audiences in India, the Middle East, North America, UK, Europe, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. He has performed at the President’s residence, Rashtrapathy Bhavan, in New Delhi, at UNESCO in Paris and in Fukuoka Hall, Japan.

Over the years Shashank has evolved a concert pattern imbibing the best of North Indian and South Indian classical styles and prefers to call himself an Indian classical flutist. Acclaimed critics from world over have described his flute playing as highly creative, melodious and conforming to a vocal tradition of high quality.

Dr. Natesan Ramani was born October 15, 1934. He was commonly known as N. Ramani or N. Flute Ramani. He was widely acknowledged as one of the world’s most masterful bamboo flute players. In 1934 he was born into a family of musicians where he began his studies with his grandfather, Sri Azhiyur Narayanaswamy Iyer, and his first public performance was given at the age of eight. He later continued his training under Sri T.R Mahalingam who was known for developing a unique style of blowing and crossfingering.

Dr. Ramani has further developed these techniques and is known for his technical excellence and masterful improvisation. He has been a performer for All India Radio since 1947 and has toured worldwide.

Deepak Ram is a highly gifted musician with a firm foundation in the traditions of North Indian classical music, as well as an inspired versatility ? straddling and ultimately doing away with the boundary that once divided East from West ? that makes each of his projects uniquely his own.

At a young age, Deepak Ram’s reputation grew rapidly. Among his many laurels is the award for Best Instrumental Album, South African Music Awards 2000. Ram has collaborated with renowned musicians in a variety of genres from jazz pianist Darius Brubeck to Tunisian ud player Dhafer Yousseff. He has performed throughout the world, including South Africa?s Millennium Concert on Robben Island before such illustrious audience members as presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki. In addition to masterful composition, arranging and performance, Ram is also an accomplished teacher, most recently holding a post with the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Ram plays the bansuri, a bamboo flute whose origins date several thousands years back into India?s rich past, being the chosen instrument of Lord Krishna, its sweet, melancholy, yet joyful sound a manifestation of the divine.

Ram is accompanied on this recording by Swapan Chaudhuri on the tabla. Chaudhuri has shone in performances throughout the world, from Sand Francisco to Kuala Lumpur, both as accompanist as well as solo artist. Chaudhuri share Ram’s rich classical background as well as his poetic grace and inspired elegance.

Ram is featured on the soundtrack to the Sci-Fi movie, The Matrix Reloaded. Listen for Deepak?s soaring bansuri parts on Navras, a 9-minute work composed by British-based Juno Reactor in collaboration with Matrix score composer Don Davis.